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Need you at the hospital now. Come here? Room 243?

“Oh no.” I murmured.

“What? What?” Allie asked, leaning forward and looking down.

I made a disappointed sound. “I’m sorry—I’d help, but I’ve got to go.”

“Where? Why?” my mother asked, turning sharp.

I held my phone out where she could see. “Lacey’s mom’s in the hospital now, and Lacey needs me.”

My mother’s shoulders drooped sympathetically. “That poor family. They just can’t catch a break.”

“I know,” I said. I looked up and saw Liam make a face of some sort, one I couldn’t quite catch or describe—and by thetime I noticed it, it was gone, replaced by the normal Liam grin. I turned to my mother. “Can I take the car, mom?”

I watched her inhale to refuse me, but then she realized Liam was watching, and she wanted to be the cool mom. “Sure. Why not?” she said, and went to her purse for her keys.

“When’s your test? Can we reschedule?” I asked Liam.

“Of course. Monday night? After practice?”

An evening study date was even more like a date-date and I felt weird, but there was no time to delay. “Works for me,” I lied.

My mother returned and held out her keys and I made sure to follow Liam on his way out the door, grabbing my backpack from its home on the floor, so she couldn’t stop and change her mind without witnesses.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, Mom.”

“You stay as long as she needs you,” my mother said, looking a little pained. “And—Liam—don’t be a stranger, okay?”

“Sure thing, Rachel,” he said, with a suave nod to her and then to me, “See you tomorrow? Chemistry?”

“Yep!” I said, cheerfully nodding and walking to the Buick and turning the engine over quickly. He got into his truck, and I couldn’t help but realize that even though he’d ostensibly wanted to see me, he hadn’t offered to give me a ride.

I was just outside the trailer park when I realized I needed to explain myself to Lacey. Especially if something bad had happened to her mom. I tried to think of ways that I could show her what had happened to me safely, but in the hospital—I didn’t want a repeat of the Shax? Maybe it was just easier to have her trust someone else’s word.

Plus—I wanted to see Darius. And…I wanted to know if he wanted to see me back. I’d spent last night hoping he’d text,without having the guts to text him, but now—I didn’t bother pulling my phone out.

Hey. Can you meet me at the hospital?

The words flew straight from my mind to the screen, and within seconds I had his response.

See you there.

We wound up parking within a space of each other outside Mercy. I got out of my car first and walked over to him.

“Hey.”

“Is her mom all right?”

“Don’t know yet. I hope so.”

“Me too.”

And despite having an apparent arsenal of electrical powers, I felt better facing whatever was coming with him beside me. “Let’s go see.”

Darius stayed a little back as I introduced us at the nursing desk, and we stood apart from one another while we were waiting for Lacey. She came out, looking wan, with black circles under her eyes that not even Sarah’s skills could fix. She was happy to see me, but at seeing Darius she scowled.

“Why’d you bring him?”